It is SO good to be back! Who knew how lovely the sound of a flushing toilet and garbage disposal would be to the ears!
In celebration of our liberation, I treated myself to Starbucks before heading out to accomplish a few errands. The sight of Christmas red and white threw me. Due to Hurricane Sandy's timing, I have been out of school for an entire week and Halloween has been postponed until next week. When I saw the season change via Starbucks I felt a little out of sorts... I'm behind a holiday! I'll try to catch up next week with a quick turn around for Thanksgiving. Whew!Once we were up and running with power I was able to check my school emails and catch up with my other life outside these four walls. One of the messages was requesting support for those still without power and the reminder that the temps were dropping this week so there was a great need for blankets and warm clothing. Please remember that many families on the coast lost not only their homes but everything inside them. We were affected by the storm, we have been without power, several very large trees have fallen, and our yard looks like a world war was fought on it BUT we were lucky, the only thing we LOST was power and food items. SO, one of my errands was to BJ's Warehouse to purchase items for those who are still in need. There were a few more bags of food and clothing in the back seat. I need to go through our coat closet and donate a few jackets that we don't wear and can be used by others.Back at home the clean up has begun ... sort of! As luck would have it, my husband's chainsaw thought this would be a good time to stop working! Ugh. He has a great friend that is coming over not only to loan him his but also help with the cutting and removing of the trees! There are plenty of small limbs, twigs and leaves to keep everyone busy in the meantime. The yard should be cleaned up and back to normal in no time with these two power house helpers!Bentley is in charge of watching the leaves so they don't go anywhere. He takes his job very seriously!Bozley is the official stick chewer.
These are taxing jobs and not for the light of heart. Ha!In keeping with my celebration of electricity, I made up a new recipe for dinner. This may sound off but I was rather excited to be able to cook and serve a meal. It represented being normal ... what a great feeling! My creation basically consisted of what I had on hand and a combination of flavors that sounded appealing. This evening White bean, artichoke,mushroom and chicken chili came to dinner. It really needs a catchier name ~ I'll work on that later. I have to say that it was delicious! Both my husband and I agreed that is was keeper. In fact, he requested that I make another batch so we could take it for lunches next week. He's a sweet talker I tell ya ;) I'm having issues with blogger {shocking, I know!} this evening so I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers, they made all the difference! It's so nice to have such wonderful friends :)

So glad to hear that you have the power back on and you can get on with life again.Thoughts and prayers are with those that are still suffering.Good luck with cleaning up your yard and have a lovely week

Praising God for your safety! I am so glad your home was spared from damage! Starbucks would be my first stop as well! :) While we watched from afar, Sandy certainly helped bring a little perspective to life! It brings conscious appreciation for all the little things we daily take for granted.Take care friend as you return to normal life, and good luck with your clean up. I'm sure it'll go quickly with your cute lil' helpers.

Had to laugh about the cup, thought the same thing when hubby came home with one awhile back, had to do a double take! lolHow about naming your chili "Artichoke Chicken Chili"?!! Say that five times fast!:)

Well, I hope things are getting better for everyone up there, it's been hard hearing some of the tragic stories and situations, there are many down here who have family up there and feel helpless. There are donations taken up everywhere we go around here to help people up in that area, churches donating blankets, money and water sent.... always a good reminder of easy it is to take such simple things for granted. I'm glad you all are okay and things are starting to get back to normal and that those that are in need, are able to get the help!xo